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Location: Montreal, Quebec, Canada

I grew up in Ontario and Nunavut, and went to university in New Brunswick. For two years I lived in Ottawa, on the green belt. While I was there I wrote about nature. Then I moved to Montreal and I wrote nothing for a year. We've got nature here too, so I'm going to write about it.

Friday, January 26, 2007

Snowshoes



I've been doing a fair bit of snowshoeing these days. The snow isn't terribly deep, I admit, but I do get a bit of flotation, and the exercize is good. As an added bonus, snowshoes let me go off the trail a bit. Since other animals tend not to stick the the human trails, the ability to go off trail is invaluable to the amateur naturalist.

I believe I've said before that you're far more likely to seen animal tracks than you are to see the animals themselves. Snowshoeing, I see, maybe a few deer if I'm lucky, and possibly some chickadees. However, I see the tracks of pretty much everything that lives in Ottawa's green belt. I'm starting to love snow for that very reason. I would, of course, prefer to see the animals themselves, but any port in the storm.

Firstoff, I saw coyote tracks aplenty. Now those who know me will know fully well how highly I think I think of canis latrans. I've heard them howling at night, and I always knew they were around academically, but I'd never seen their tracks before



for the record, though I couldn't manage a decent photo of it, those tracks veered off shortly thereafter, in the general direction of some rabbit tracks. Looks like it was a bad day to be a rabbit.

The BIG news, though, wasn't the coyote tracks. i ran across some tracks that were unfamiliar to me...small ones. So I snapped a picture, brought it home and studied it (thanks again for the camera, mom. it makes these things easier. That picture isn't as showy, so I'm not sharing it here, but it was clear enough for me to make an identification. It was an animal I have never seen, one I didn't even know lived in this area. it was a short tailed weasel, also known as an ermine mustela erminea. Apparently they're active all year round, and, as I saw, they often move in bounds. Nice to see, that.

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2 Comments:

Blogger Gwen said...

You're welcome! It's fun to see you using it for such an interesting purpose.

Hey- there are Arctic hare tracks around our house this morning. I'd love to see one of those big bunnies- have only ever seen them in distant places, like Arviat. They must be in town because there are so many wolves around. It's unnerving being out on the tundra right now. Another of the Arctic dog-walkers met a wolf- nose to nose with his dog, it was. I don't think Rosie and I would handle that situation well, do you?

5:30 AM  
Blogger Gaelan said...

I strongly doubt you two would.

I HAVE seen Arctic hare around Iqaluit. never in town proper, but out road to nowhere way and such.

Might be interesting to see a wolf, you know. Preferably sans Rosie, however.

11:44 AM  

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